Tractor-lovers heading to Fredericksburg

By Zeke MacCormack :
June 6, 2013
: Updated: June 7, 2013 8:55am

Brian Roeder turns the flywheel on a recently-restored 1930s Superior brand 35 horsepower engine into the proposition for starting it. Members of the Hill Country Antique Tractor & Engine Club spent about a year restoring the engine once used in a petroleum field. A hundred or more engines and at least that many tractors will be on display on Friday and Saturday at the Gillespie County Fairgrounds in Fredericksburg. Zeke MacCormack

Photo By Zeke MacCormack/San Antonio Express-News

Dierre Smith, 70, of Fredericksburg turns the crank start on a 2 1/4 HP "hit-and-miss" one-cylinder engine at the Gillespie County Fairgrounds. He owns about 30 antique engines, and brought several to the show that runs from 2 p.m. to sundown on Friday and 8 a.m. to sundown on Saturday 6/8. "I collect 'em 'cause I like 'em," he said. "It's a fun hobby."

Photo By Zeke MacCormack/San Antonio Express-Newss

Plenty of old farm and ranch equipment is stored at the Gillespie County Fairgrounds by the Hill Country Antique Tractor & Engine Club, which is holding its annual show there on Friday and Saturday.

Photo By Zeke MacCormack/San Antonio Express-News

Plenty of old farm and ranch equipment is stored at the Gillespie County Fairgrounds by the Hill Country Antique Tractor & Engine Club, which is holding its annual show there on Friday and Saturday.

Photo By Zeke MacCormack/San Antonio Express-News

Cliff Ingold not only displays his 1956 Cushman Eagle scooter at the Hill Country Antique Tractor & Engine show in Fredericksburg, he also rides it between different stations he mans at the Gillespie County Fairgrounds for the club that sponsors the show. "When I was in high school, I

Photo By Zeke MacCormack/San Antonio Express-News

Restoring this antique Fairbanks Morse engine is one of the upcoming labors of love for members of the Hill Country antique Tractor & Engine Club

Photo By Zeke MacCormack/San Antonio Express-News

Dierre Smith prepares to start an antique engine at the Gillespie County Fairgrounds, where the 28th annual antique tractor and engine show will take place Friday and Saturday.

Photo By Zeke MacCormack/San Antonio Express-News

Cliff Ingold not only displays his 1956 Cushman Eagle scooter at the Hill Country Antique Tractor & Engine show in Fredericksburg, he also rides it between different stations he mans at the Gillespie County Fairgrounds for the club that sponsors the show. "When I was in high school, I pestered my parents to no end to get me one and never did, until about eight years ago," said Ingold, 70, of Harper.

FREDERICKSBURG — Mechanized workhorses from a bygone era will be celebrated here starting Friday as the Hill Country Antique Tractor & Engine Club convenes its 28th annual show.

John Deeres, Allis Chalmers and other machines dating to the early 1900s will share the spotlight with scores of engines, from small one-cylinder models to 10,000-pound behemoths.

“Come see how it used to be,” implored Boots Follmar of Kerrville, event chairman. “How our forefathers put in crops, tractor demonstrations — and some kids even get rides.”